


Loss

by justplainvaults



Category: Fallout 3
Genre: Grief, Grief-driven breakdown, Too many feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 18:56:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14983448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justplainvaults/pseuds/justplainvaults
Summary: Adrenaline can only drive you so far...





	Loss

****_Pipes dripping._

_Finger still on trigger._

_Five shots left._

_Takes at least half a minute to reload because the fucking thing jams if you go too fast._

_Should have just fixed the thing at Rivet City._

_Should have hurried and not been in the pipe._

_Should have been there…_

“There shouldn’t be much left to the tunnel…” Doctor Li managed to push out in a somewhat hushed tone. The tunnels were both familiar and new at the same time, time having done far more to them than even she could have imagined. They had been in a state of disrepair before, but now? Now they were barely staying upright in some locations. She was sure the Ghouls had something to do with that. If not them, the Super-Mutants might have gotten in at some point. A lock was hardly ever enough to truly keep them from getting where they truly wanted to go.

“Got it.” Gwen’s words were quick, hollow in some regard. Adrenaline was all that was keeping her going at this point. The majority of the Enclave soldiers that had been sent after them were lying dead in the tunnels, but that was far from enough for the former Vault-Dweller. No amount of bodies could erase the sight of her father collapsing in front of her, the pounding of her own fists against the glass doing nothing except leaving a dull, echoing thud that continued to ring out in her ears.

Li remained silent as they came to the next pass of the tunnels. Two doors jutted out at them. One to the left, and the other being the opposite. Gwen only paused for a moment, before slamming her fist against the switch for the former. Within mere seconds, that hand was back on her rifle, gripping it as though the wood might shatter beneath her fingers.

_Power Armor._

_Enclave._

_Shoot._

_Kill._

_Kill._

**_Kill._ **

“Hold it right there…this is a restricted area.” The almost mechanical voice behind the Power Armor rang out through the tunnel. Still holding her rifle against her shoulder, finger mere inches from the trigger, Gwen stopped herself as she recognized the differing appearance of the Power Armor itself. The glowing yellow eyes that had stood out to her from the Enclave’s variant was missing. Nor was the color as dark as those of the ones that had chased them.

“You civilians get topside. Go.” Gesturing towards the tunnel that stretched out behind him, the figure in the Power Armor adjusted the hold of the Flamer in his hands. Wasting no time, Li and the remainder of the Purity staff moved around Gwen, moving to the point where they were no longer in the doorway. The timing was perfect.

“Damnit! Ghouls again!” The words rang out in Gwen’s ears, mixing in with the unmistakable snarl that only Ghouls could make.  Looking over her shoulder, rifle still held at the ready in her arms, she stepped back, just as the flames from the Brotherhood soldier’s flamer shot past her into the tunnel. The Ghouls continued to snarl and screech, even as the flames met their already radiated bodies. Much of the group lasted only mere seconds before they fell to the ground, entirely motionless. Those that didn’t cried out sounds that somewhat resembled those of ones in pain. And then, the tunnel was silent once more.

“C’mon, get top-side!” Again, the metallic voice shouted in Gwen’s direction as the sound of the Flamer gradually ceased. Giving the charred scene one last look-over, she moved past the man without a second glance. Li and the group had already begun the descent up the ladder to the surface, the night-sky just barely visible above them.

_Brotherhood is here._

_Safe._

_Enclave is still back there._

_Dad’s still back there._

_Dad’s dead._

_Dead._

_Dead._

***

Gwen’s heart-beat didn’t slow even as they entered the compound. The presence of the Brotherhood’s main force here, mini-guns and all, did little to calm her nerves, evident by the way she kept her rifle tightly within her grasp, round still chambered. Li, thankfully, did most of the talking. After the events of the past hour or so, the last thing she wanted was to talk. Words escaped her. Words were  _ **meaningless**_  at this point.

Sweat soaked through the material of her Vault-Suit, the leather additions to it doing little to cool her. Sarah Lyons was here, a small relief to see a friendly face amongst the Power-Armored figures. Her father had welcomed them here, the doors shutting behind them in the process. As much as that had been a relief to the others within the group, it did little for Gwen. Slipping away from the conversation, she eased herself down onto a small chair, rust replacing what had no-doubt once been shinny metal.

For the first time since the Enclave had arrived, she allowed her rifle to leave her hands. The blood splattered across both it and her hands finally registered in the former Vault Dweller’s head as she watched the weapon fall to the ground at her feet. Her hands shook, the adrenaline that had been quite possibly the only thing driving her through the events leading up to now finally beginning to filter out of her system.

_Dad’s dead._

_Dead._

_Dead._

_Dead._

_Have to go back._

_Have to go back._

_Kill them._

_Kill them all._

Tears stung at her eyes, as much as she wanted to continue holding them inside. No-one needed to see her like this. Certainly not the Brotherhood that was sheltering them. Not Li. She and her team had been through just as much from the Enclave’s arrival. Her chest heaved with each strained, sob-filled breath. Covering her eyes with her hands, darkened splotches of dried blood staining her fingers. She’d come so far. Seen and done so much to find her father. And now? There was  ** _nothing_**  to show for it.

Nothing except blood that was solely on her own hands.

_Deaddeaddeaddead deaddeaddeaddeaddeaddeaddeaddead_


End file.
